Interfaith trip to Israel aimed at building bonds across Westchester communities of faith

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – A various group of greater than a dozen non secular leaders in Westchester County is simply again from a trip to Israel after building bridges throughout a time of divisiveness. 

CBS2’s Tony Aiello reviews on the hassle to deepen relationships across strains of race and faith. 

“When we stand up against hate, we all reaffirm our humanity,” mentioned NAACP chapter president Minister Mark McLean. 

McLean and Rabbi David Schuck are two of the Westchester faith leaders who just lately spent per week collectively in Israel. 

“You create an intensity of an experience that allows for some of the walls to come down and for deep, deep relationships to be built in a short amount of time,” Schuck mentioned. 

Christians and Jews within the Holy Land spent lengthy hours in dialog and fellowship. They shared an emotional go to to the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center, and prayed collectively for the ten killed in Buffalo, allegedly by a person who hated Blacks and Jews. 

“The Holocaust is something that is in the past, but we realize evil is still with us. Hate is still with us, and so it gave us an opportunity to connect as human beings, as people of God,” McLean mentioned. 

Back now in New Rochelle, the problem is to lead numerous congregations alongside a path of mutual respect and understanding. 

“I don’t think the Jewish community in New Rochelle has really dealt with, and learned about, the challenges to the communities of color in New Rochelle, and I don’t think the communities of color in New Rochelle think of the Jewish community as people who feel themselves vulnerable,” Shuck mentioned. 

“The experience in the Holy Land has forged a true bond and a commitment to coming back to Westchester and making a difference for our communities,” McLean mentioned. 

They took a trip collectively, and now are on a journey.

The trip was sponsored by the UJA Federation of New York and the Westchester Jewish Council.  The leaders who attended have already scheduled conferences to proceed their interfaith work.